Digital CPG Blog

Unilever plans to use mobile as its primary marketing channel within 10 years, in a strategy that includes covering mobile data charges for those interacting with its brands.

Currently, the fast moving consumer goods giant is paying for the mobile data charges incurred by people who download and use the mobile app for its Lynx Stream deodorant brand campaign.

“The app has already launched and the feedback so far has been really good,” Dean said in the article. “The retention and use of those who have downloaded the app has been really high. One thing that’s important to our audience is their phones. Lynx’s audience spends more time on their phones than any other media, plus they go out a lot.”

“Mobile is the most-used channel in growth markets,” he said, adding that Unilever will place mobile advertising, couponing and commerce at the core of its strategy in these markets over the next 10 years.

via CGT.

This is a very smart strategy for Unilever all-around. Developing your mobile, tablet, etc. strategies now means you’ll really be ahead of the curve as people change their browsing and shopping habits and behaviors.

Does the non-Facebook internet feel about 9% less interesting than it did a year ago? That’s how much usage has fallen. In the same time period, time spent on Facebook has climbed nearly 70% year over year.

For years, trends have pushed brands toward becoming publishers. The advantages are a more captive and engaged audience. However, this data suggests the increasing importance of not just being a publisher, but being a Facebook-able publisher.

To get into newsfeeds, to be shared, to garner comments, Likes and recommendations, your content must be tuned to social, argues WOMMA.

Being a publisher means being on all available platforms and creating appropriate content for those platforms. And while it’s true that many people used to access the web through Google and now are accessing the web through Facebook, that doesn’t mean that putting or creating content on Facebook automatically means your social. Should that be part of your strategy? Of course. Absolutely. But don’t call yourself social because of that. Social is two-way and engagement. Most brands still remain broadcasters, even if they’re on Facebook.

Media Post reports:

Nielsen and MyWebGrocer are forming a new partnership to track the fast-growing area of online grocery sales. While online grocery shopping accounts for just 2% of total U.S. consumer packaged goods sales, it is expected to explode in the next few years, growing from $12 billion now to $25 billion by 2014.

That increase “is because we’re seeing big changes in how consumers connect to retailers, between the growth of mobile and the growth of iPads,” John Burbank, president, Strategic Initiatives, Nielsen, tells Marketing Daily. “Consumers can now shop anywhere they might be, at any given moment. That’s a big change from 10 years ago, when they had to be at their home computers.” He adds that consumer acceptance of online grocery shopping is considerably higher in Europe.

As the online market grows, Burbank says, traditional stores, such as Walmart and Tesco, will continue to evolve their online offerings, competing with the likes of FreshDirect, Peapod and Alice.com.

But the distinction between online and instore shopping continues to get fuzzier, as consumers switch channels more fluidly. Nielsen reports that 25% of U.S. CPG purchases are researched online, including retailer weekly ads, and that 97% of the time, the researched product is eventually purchased.

So, are you online yet? What’s stopping you?

Even though we shared some negative news about private label last week, CPG overall is doing well!

The consumer packaged goods segment is recovering, according to a benchmarking report from GMA and PwC, with shipments up 6% in 2010 to almost $124 billion. All 148 of the companies analyzed saw sales growth, and GMA President and CEO Pamela Bailey said one factor is that companies are using digital capabilities to improve marketing, innovation and operations.

We love the digital!

And not only that, CPG companies are spending money on ads. Always a good sign. Procter & Gamble spent $4.6 billion on U.S. advertising in 2010, a 17.9% increase over the $3.9 billion of the previous year.

Let’s hope CPG continues it’s upward ascension!

Ah, need help explaining f-commerce to your colleagues or partners? Here’s a cute, little – and simple! – video that’s easy to understand.

Have you had any issues getting buy-in for a Facebook commerce initiative or strategy? If you have a store, have you found results and traction from the effort?

Do tell.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that social media will not have 100 percent market reach. But you wouldn’t know that by how some people speak of it. That’s because awareness is extremely high while usage significantly lags behind,” argues Paul McCarthy.

Ouch.

“We’re getting to a point where social media penetration may have leveled off in the US. This is by no means for certain, but Facebook’s recent 6 million active user drop may be an early indicator.”

What do you think? Is this a sign that you shouldn’t be transfering your eggs to the social media basket? Or are the key connectors online?

I love this – and it’s something fun as we near the end of the week. Sometimes it’s those small touches that really make you love a brand:

“Package design has become so artful, it has come to this: Even the barcode, the style runt of product labeling, is getting gussied up,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

You’ve heard of vanity URLs, but vanity barcodes? It’s all the rage.

“Consumer-goods companies hope these vanity barcodes will better connect with customers. The trend is popular with smaller companies, and even one of the world’s largest food companies, Nestle SA, is trying out vanity barcodes on its smaller brands,” continues WSJ.

Very cool, and that extra touch of delight is great for packaging.

Private-label sales in supermarkets, drugstores and mass merchandisers rose nearly 2% in 2010 to reach a record $88.5 billion, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association.

Private label sales grew two percent in supermarkets, a gain of $1.2 billion, and five percent in drug in the past year, which is an increase of $300 million, according to the report.

Store brands’ share of dollar sales in supermarkets reached 19.1 percent, with unit sales accounting for 23.5 percent. In drug stores, store brands reached a dollar share of 14.7 percent and unit share of 16.2 percent, the report reveals. In all outlets, private label accounts for 17.4 percent of dollar share and 21.8 percent of unit share.

Unit sales of private label, however, dropped 0.9 percent in all outlets, PLMA says.

Across channels, national brands lost $4.6 billion in sales revenue, according to the report, while unit sales of brands fell 0.6 percent.

What are you doing to keep your brand share in the market?

With the advent of retail tabs on brand Facebook page (F-Commerce), users are able to purchase within the network in which they saw a recommendation. This development increases the value of brand presence in social media. 70% of social media users cite connecting with friends and family as the reason using social media. F-Commerce removes one more step from the moment a user sees a recommendation from someone they trust to their purchase.

via WOMMA.

Advertising spending is continuing to recover from the recession and financial crisis, although the rate of growth is slowing, reports the New York Times:

The report, by Kantar Media, part of WPP, found that ad spending in major media in the United States in the first quarter rose 4.4 percent from the same quarter a year ago. The percentage gain is the fifth quarterly increase in a row since the end of 2009, but it is the smallest of the five.

As for the advertisers that spend all the money, Procter & Gamble led the list of the top 10, as it often does. Procter spent $719.8 million in the first quarter, the report said, down 5.9 percent from $765 million spent in the first quarter of last year.

Of the top 10 spenders, seven spent more than they did a year ago. They include the Chrysler Group, up 58.6 percent; Toyota Motor, up 30.3 percent; Ford Motor, up 27.3 percent; L’Oreal, up 14.1 percent; AT&T, up 6.9 percent; and General Motors, up 1.3 percent.